U.S. home prices edged up 0.9% from April to May, hitting an average price of $202,000, Lender Processing Services said in its latest Home Price Index report.
On a year-over-year basis, prices are up 0.4%.
The average price of $202,000 in May is up from $200,000 in April and $201,000 a year earlier. “For the year 2012 so far, U.S. home prices are up 3.2%,” LPS said Friday.
The firm’s study focuses on transactions that closed in the month of May across 15,500 different U.S. ZIP codes.
The states reporting the largest home price gains included Delaware (up 2.6%); Alaska (up 2.3%); Arizona (up 1.7%); North Carolina (up 1.6%) and Washington D.C. (up 1.5%). The states with the smallest home price increases for May included California (up 0.4%); Pennsylvania (up 0.4%), Florida (0.3%); and Ohio (up 0.1%).
The biggest price movers on a metropolitan level included Anchorage, Ala. (up 2.3%); Phoenix (up 2.1%); Asheville, N.C. (up 1.9%); and Ocean Pines, Md. (up 1.8%).
The LPS HPI report reflects the price of nondistressed sales by accounting for price discounts, REOs and short sales that could effect the final outcome of the price index.
In the largest states, prices rose, but not at record levels. In California, home prices edged up 0.4% in May, hitting $298,000, compared to $296,000 a year earlier.
Texas prices, meanwhile, edged up 0.6%, hitting $174,000 in May, compared to $172,000 last year.
kpanchuk@housingwire.com
